LEXINGTON, KY | May 16, 2023
The Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC), through the 2023 HOME Investment Program and the Affordable Housing Trust Fund has awarded Kentucky-based non-profit Community Ventures (CV) a total of $594,024. As a KHC designated Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) Community Ventures works with individuals to find a suitable home in a qualifying county, then purchases and renovates the property with input from the future homeowner while working out financing options. Utilizing funding from this KHC program, to date Community Ventures has completed 147 Central Kentucky homes.
For instance, city girl Brooke Johnson didn’t expect to find herself living in a small rural town in Bourbon County, but when the perfect opportunity at homeownership through Community Ventures’ Rural Rehab Program presented itself, the single mother of three jumped at the chance. Johnson found out about homeownership assistance programs aimed at low-income persons from someone close to her who had also gotten into a house with help from Community Ventures.
“I came to Community Ventures to find the right loan and the right house,” Johnson explained. “I kept looking at all these different houses that looked good on the internet, but when you drive up to them, you are like…no. I was getting really discouraged.
“Then I saw a house in Millersburg. The square footage was so good—1,500 square feet, and the price was great. The person I was working with at Community Ventures was telling me all the stuff that they could do to fix it up, and that it would easily qualify.” (For CHDO funding.)
Following extensive renovation by Community Ventures that included replacing the HVAC system, all new windows and extensive work in the attic and under the house to ensure energy efficiency, Johnson has moved into her new home and is enjoying small town life.
Says Brenda Weaver, Community Ventures’ President of Housing and Lending, “We are extremely thankful for the continued support of the Kentucky Housing Corporation. In today’s housing market, the dream of building wealth through homeownership may seem unattainable. Funding such as this can make the dream a reality for Kentucky’s low- to moderate-income families.”
In order to ensure the success of first-time homebuyers, Community Ventures provides financial literacy and pre-purchase homebuyer education through eHome America, a program developed by Community Ventures to help individuals improve credit scores prior to purchase, thus expanding homeownership opportunities to households that previously did not qualify. Community Ventures’ long-term commitment to both pre- and post-purchase one-on-one counseling facilitates a successful transition from renter to homeowner, as evidenced by CV’s high rate of success. Once homebuyer education is complete, housing counselors partner with a network of reputable lenders that provide safe, fixed rate, non-predatory loans.
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For more information, contact Brenda Weaver at bweaver@cvky.org